Slow Pace Faces The Dead Faces of Journalists

FOREWORD

Disappointed Journalists and activities protest again for the slow pace of the trials of the dead journalists that has been deprived of the government's justice against the Aquino government last Sunday.



SOURCE :

MANILA AFP) - Philippine journalists and activists gathered for an overnight vigil late on Sunday, criticising the slow pace of the trial over a massacre that left 57 people including journalists dead.

The protesters, who assembled at a human rights monument in Manila, also assailed President Benigno Aquino for the continued spate of killings of media workers despite his promises to crack down on such crimes.

About 150 people arrived for a ceremony marking the 1,000th day since the massacre -- allegedly by a powerful political clan -- said organiser Sonny Fernandez. Thirty-two journalists were among the dead.

"We are remembering the victims, stressing the demand for justice and urging the government to take concrete steps to end the impunity in media killings," said Fernandez, of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

"The Aquino government is not doing much to stop the killings," he said, citing 13 journalists killed since Aquino took office in 2010.

The 2009 massacre was allegedly carried out by the powerful Ampatuan political clan to prevent a rival from challenging one of their members in elections in the troubled southern Philippines.

However, of 196 suspects in the case, a hundred remain at large while the rest are being tried or face legal processes which have dragged on for months.

Fernandez said that families of the victims were being bribed to dropped the case. Other reports say witnesses and potential witnesses live in fear of being silenced.

The NUJP says that since 1986, when democracy was restored to the Philippines, 153 journalists have been killed and only 10 people have been convicted of these killings, with the masterminds going unpunished.

"If the government can show that they can haul to court and punish the mastermind, that will make perpetrators think twice before killing journalists," said Fernandez.

Human rights and media groups widely blame the killings on a "culture of impunity", where powerful figures believe they can carry out violent attacks on their critics without being punished.

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HUMOR 

Tira ng Tira si Noynoy nun laban kay Gloria na hindi nasosolutionan ang extrajudicial killings or the killings of Journalists,,eh naun anung sabi niya sa mga nangamatay ng journalist under his administration..??? Ginaya rin ang explain sa admin ni Gloria..

"Hindi natin po hawak ang pagpatay sa kanila.."... Hypokrito Talaga..

PROPECHIZMIZ

More and more journalist will be killed and Noy noy will only say "Sorry,we don't hold the killer.."

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Bangsa Rules Again

FOREWORD

How can the Bangsa Moro so powerful that they are always so powerful than the Philippine Army Forces..wonder who funded them..

But we all know who,the Aquino-Conguaco as one of the rich clan in the world who funded these groups.Mr.Benigno III C. Aquino or Noynoy's lips has slipped when he gave million funds to MILF..

So what must we do to end these pest?

Source :

Bodies found after Philippine raids

 

August 7 2012 at 10:25am

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REUTERS

File photo - A Filipino boy looks at his bicycle that was burned along with his house by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in Takepan village in Pikit, North Cotabato, southern Philippines.

Manila - 

Philippine troops found four bodies including the mutilated corpses of two soldiers after a breakaway Muslim rebel group launched co-ordinated raids in the south, the army said on Tuesday.

The discoveries raised the death toll to seven a day after the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters simultaneously attacked 11 

towns on Mindanao island, said the soldiers' commander Lieutenant-Colonel Kit Teofilo.

“The face of one soldier was mangled (and he) was shot in the head. The other had torture marks all over his body including hack wounds. It was a horrible crime committed by heartless individuals,” Teofilo said.

The corpses of two more male victims were recovered at a roadside, also suspected to have been killed by the raiders, the battalion commander said in a statement. Another soldier was still missing, he added.

The military had earlier reported that a civilian and two of the raiders were killed in the skirmishes.

The rebels used chainsaws to bring down electricity pylons before dawn on Monday, plunging several towns into darkness, and then opened fire on army detachments, police and the military said. 

Teofilo said most of the fighting had died down by early Tuesday, but army units in the area were still drawing sniper fire as they searched for the missing soldier near the towns of Datu Unsay and Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

The government says the attacks were apparently meant to derail negotiations with the larger, more mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). 

The breakaway rebels are headed by Ameril Umbrakato, a hardline Saudi Arabian-educated guerrilla who split from the 12 000-strong MILF after it dropped its bid for full independence to negotiate for an autonomous region. 

Umbrakato has boasted of having about 5 000 armed fighters, though military officials believe he only has a few hundred under his command. 

The government has said it hopes to sign a peace deal with the MILF by the end of the year, but has asked the MILF leadership to help contain the forces of Umbrakato, who opposes peace talks. 

The Mindanao insurgency began in the early 1970s and the fighting has killed about 150 000 people, miring large parts of the south in deep poverty. - Sapa-AFP

HUMOR

Philippine soldier naturing pero hindi maipagtanggol ang sarili sa kalaban...kailangan ang mga Moro na ang magiging soldier natin kasi sila naman ang pinopondohan ng gobyerno ni Aquino..

PROPECHIZMIZ

How this problem will end if the govenrment itself is the one supporting the problem...so what the Philippine soldiers must and should do now... :(

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The Bangsa Nag Bangsag Nanaman Army

FOREWORD

How can this Bansa Moro Group so powerful and sleath that they can overthrow Philippine army forces? where is their intelligence came from? Do they have short courses funded by the international Moro islamic forces? Ahaha...

Dapat mag crush course nalarin ang mga Philippine soldier sa kanila..ehehe

Source :

Breakaway rebels attack Filipino troops; 3 killed 

 

MANILA, Philippines — Gunmen from a breakaway Muslim rebel group attacked army outposts in the southern Philippines, sparking clashes that killed at least 3 people and shattered years of calm in the notoriously violent region, officials said Monday.

Dozens of armed fighters from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement launched simultaneous attacks on army detachments in four towns in Maguindanao province late Sunday and sporadic clashes were continuing Monday, Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said. The gunmen also attacked two army outposts in nearby North Cotabato province.

Mangudadatu said two attackers were killed in Maguindanao, along with a villager who was hit by stray gunfire as he traveled on a motorcycle along a main highway. Eight people, including five soldiers and militiamen, were wounded in the violence.

At the height of the attacks, villagers fled from their homes and 11 of Maguindanao's 36 towns lost power. Military officials suspect the gunmen may have destroyed power lines.

The 200-strong rebel group, led by commander Ameril Umbra Kato, broke off last year from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has engaged the government in ongoing peace talks being brokered by Malaysia. Kato's group has opposed the yearslong negotiations.

Kato had vowed to continue fighting for an independent homeland for minority Muslims in the south of this predominantly Roman Catholic nation. He had a stroke in November, plunging his group to uncertainty.

Abu Misri Mammah, a spokesman for Kato's group, said the rebels were avenging the death of a fellow militant who was killed when army troops advanced on a guerrilla stronghold in Maguindanao last month.

"What we launched were hit and run harassments," he told a local radio station, adding that his group has no plan to carry out further attacks.

Soldiers and police were pursuing the fleeing gunmen Monday.

The 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front ordered its rebels to remain in their encampments as government forces battled the breakaway guerrillas. Spokesman Von Al Haq said his group did not want to be accidentally drawn into the fighting.

The presidential adviser on the peace talks, Teresita Deles, said the attacks by Kato's forces were meant to derail the peace talks, but she assured the public the violence would not affect the negotiations.

The latest fighting is among the worst since 2008, when peace talks bogged down and ignited clashes between Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces and government troops in Maguindanao and outlying provinces. That fighting killed hundreds and displaced 750,000 people before both sides agreed to a cease-fire.

The Associated Press

HUMOR

How can the Philippine Army Forces so weak and the Philippine homogrown Moro Forces so Strong? Ah..is Noynoy funding them?(ehehe two sense : First Sense : (is nonoy funding them?[the Philippine Arm Forces] Answer : NO!}; Second Sense : ( is nonoy funding them? [ The Philippine Moro Forces] Answer : YES!}


 Wahehehe..Ahahha...

PROPECHIZMIZ

The Philippine Moro Forces will be successful and the Philippine Arm Forces always subdued or not successful  ;]

 

  "..Hi Ho Hi Ho Hi Ho..Hi lo Na Kami.."ehehe

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Ancient Pa Ito

FOREWORD

This issue has been so long to be very long age that it has not been settled as if they Veterans are really of veteran in waiting for their recognition.

Recognition from their bravery..



Source :

"

Some Filipino Vets Still Awaiting Recognition

By: Beth Garbitelli



World War II ended almost 70 years ago but some Filipino veterans are still waiting for recognition of their services.

"We are just asking for fair treatment," Celestino Almeda said.

Almeda is one of approximately 4,000 applicants for compensation who were not granted veteran status and are contesting that decision.

The path for recognition began years ago for Almeda, who fought for nearly six years to become a naturalized citizen via his veteran status. Almeda celebrated his 95th birthday this past June.
"Guess where I celebrated my birthday?" Almeda asked, chuckling. Along with other guests, Almeda attended a reception hosted by Secretary Hillary Clinton in honor of Filipino President Aquino. "I was one of the invited guests," Almeda said.

During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt conscripted members of the Philippines Commonwealth Army to fight. "They were promised that they would be given all of the benefits [of] U.S. soldiers" said Rozita Lee of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. "In 1946, during President Truman's term, Congress decided there wasn't enough money to continue doing this and they reneged." Lee is referring to the Rescission Act of 1946 that removed full benefits from Filipino veterans.
The fight for more complete benefits for Filipino veterans escalated during the 1980s with the push for naturalization. Over the years, advocates also fought for injury compensation and treatment at Veterans Affairs hospitals. Their most substantial victory came in 2009, when President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that began the process of compensating Filipino veterans for their service.
The status of Filipino veterans remains complicated because there are multiple classifications listed in Department of Veterans Affairs documents. In addition to the Philippine Scouts, who directly served in a division of the U.S. Army, some Filipinos served as members of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, or as guerrilla fighters.

Veteran Celestino Almeda. Photo courtesy of Eric Lachica.

Philippine Scouts were able to be verified more easily because they were recorded through the U.S. military. However, veterans like Almeda who fought as soldiers in the Commonwealth Army faced more structural and bureaucratic barriers. In addition to filing in 1946, a second count of veterans was taken two years later, in 1948. By current standards for recognition, veterans must have their name on the 1948 list in addition to their discharge papers.

"There were a lot of investigations going on and rosters had to be done," Lachica said of the 1948 list's creation. He added that some veterans did not file second requests to be included and might have been deleted.

Certain documentation from the Commonwealth Army is not considered a valid replacement for not being on the 1948 list. "They say I don't have any records," Almeda said. "[The Department of Veteran Affairs] does not recognize the records from the Philippines army."

In correspondence with Mr. Almeda, Col. Jason T. Evans and Lt. Col. Joy L. Curriera sent a May 2, 2012 position paper from the U.S. Army Adjutant General Directorate stating: "The Philippine Army records in question are classified by [National Personnel Records Center] as Philippine military "organizational records" used to establish identity of Missing Persons Act (MPAP) status regarding Philippine Army personnel and recognized Guerrillas. These records are not Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)."
"It's a bureaucratic Catch-22," Lachica said.

 The issue of recognizing Filipino veterans has garnered support from elected officials such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Inouye (D-Hawaii), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and former President George W. Bush. President Obama has also expressed his support.

On July 26, 2012, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) took the floor of the House to advocate for veteran recognition.
"[B]ureaucratic roadblocks continue to prevent nearly four thousand of these aging World War II veterans from collecting the benefits they are due," Heck said.

Support from Congress may not be enough to remove these obstacles. "I think the issue is that there's been a very carefully thought-out criteria to verify service," said Scott Levins, director of National Personnel Records Center. "Any changes to that ought to come from the Army."

An executive order could help to expedite the process, as time is no luxury for those awaiting a decision. Heck stated during his speech to Congress that two of the veterans seeking benefits in his district had recently passed away.

"Many more will pass without ever obtaining the recognition they deserved, if this body does not act to remove the barriers preventing these veterans from receiving the benefits they have earned," Heck said.
"One of the veterans I spoke to yesterday was 95 years old and we were wondering together, am I going to survive this issue?" Lee said.

The United States Army could not be reached for comment.

HUMOR

Buti pa ang mga unknown bayani sa Libingan ng mga Bayani mey recognition pero ang mga Veterans of War na Buhay pa Walang recognition...

PROPECHIZMIZ

When will the recognition be bestowed to them until they die like those unknown so called Heroes on the Libingan ng mga Bayani? VETERANS nga..

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